Chuck is the author of the published novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Under the Empyrean Sky, Blue Blazes, Double Dead, Bait Dog,Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse and Gods & Monsters: Unclean Spirits. He also the author of the soon-to-be-published novels: The Cormorant, Blightborn (Heartland Book #2), Heartland Book #3, Dinocalypse Forever, Frack You, and The Hellsblood Bride. Also coming soon is his compilation book of writing advice from this very blog: The Kick-Ass Writer, coming from Writers Digest.

He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is an alum of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, showed at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producers Ted Hope and Anne Carey. Together they co-wrote the digital transmedia drama Collapsus, which was nominated for an International Digital Emmy and a Games 4 Change award.

Chuck has contributed over two million words to the game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP). He was a frequent contributor to The Escapist, writing about games and pop culture.

Much of his writing advice has been collected in various writing- and storytelling-related e-books.

He currently lives in the forests of Pennsyltucky with wife, two dogs, and tiny human.

He is likely drunk and untrustworthy. This blog is NSFW and probably NSFL.

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Chuck Wendig is a novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. This is his blog. He talks a lot about writing. And food. And pop culture. And his kid. He uses lots of naughty language. NSFW. Probably NSFL. Be advised.

Ten Questions About The 5th Wave, By Rick Yancey

I read and adored The Monstrumologist, so when given a chance to interview Rick Yancey about his newest book, The 5th Wave, I was geeked. For the record? The book is awesome. You want it. It is, I think, one of my favorite depictions of an alien invasion ever — it’s brutal stuff. Anyway, here’s Rick to answer the Terribleminds Ten.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?

I was ripped from my mother’s arms when I was 72 hours old and spent the next eighteen years under the care of two very kind people who are now dead through no real fault of their own. They raised me to be polite, caring and fully cognizant of the fact that I was special but no better than anyone else. They also tried to steer me away from the arts, which they believed to be a soul-crushing, wretched existence (they were wrong) and not something most people would consider real work (they were right). When the time came, I took a real job, got married, raised a family, and began writing books in earnest. I soon realized the more I said, the more I had to say, and saying it in the context of books that people might actually be interested in reading encouraged me to keep saying it. One day I decided to tell a story about a middle-aged guy who stumbles into an Arthurian adventure and ended up writing a novel for young-adults by accident. Since that day, I’ve written seven more books for youth, including The Monstrumologist and The 5th Wave, which is about an alien apocalypse that . . .

Oh, wait, I just looked at the next question.

GIVE US THE 140-CHARACTER STORY PITCH:

A teenaged girl searches for her little brother after an alien apocalypse. People die. Things explode. Oh, and somebody finds true love. Maybe.

WHERE DOES THIS STORY COME FROM?

I asked my wife one day, “What’s your biggest fear?” And she answered straight away: “An alien abducting me.” And I said, “I’m not sure that’s even in my top fifty.” And she said, “Think about it. Not only would there be the sheer terror of an alien abducting you, but afterwards no one would believe you.” Then I read this interview with the physicist Stephen Hawking, who pointed out that an alien visitation probably wouldn’t work out so well for us, the indigenous species. It’s not like we’d be equals. By the very nature of the event, we’d be more like cockroaches to them than fellow travelers.

HOW IS THIS A STORY ONLY YOU COULD’VE WRITTEN?

Oh no, I write quickly because I’m painfully aware I’m not the only one who could write it, and I have to beat that hypothetical person to the punch. It’s all a race. There’s only so many really cool ideas floating around out there. There’s a quote from Emerson about this that I remember reading back in college, but that was a long time ago and I’m too lazy to look it up.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT WRITING THE 5TH WAVE?

Maintaining psychological distance from the overwhelmingly unthinkable things that were happening to my characters. If I slipped and started to dwell too long on what it would mean to have everything you cherish, rely on, and believe in ripped away in an instant . . . paralysis, existential dread, and a sense of hopelessness – which is exactly what my characters do experience.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN WRITING THE 5TH WAVE?

That no matter how far you take something – alien invasions, young love, the definition of humanity – there’s always a spot you could take it farther. And you have to learn when you’ve taken it far enough and when you need to go still farther. I also learned that 2:00 a.m. writing can be so much better than 2:00 p.m. writing, because you’re too tired to judge yourself.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE 5TH WAVE?

Cassie! She’s vulnerable and funny and fierce. She’s silly, too, and sentimental as hell and she’s very, very afraid and lost and somehow she clings to hope and life. You know, like all of us do. For lack of a better word, she’s pure. Pure in her fear, pure in her sorrow, pure in her hate, pure in her love. She also kicks ass. What’s not to love?

WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?

Have a little more faith in myself. The 5th Wave is a book that takes this shit seriously – not how we’d like an alien invasion to be, but how it would really be. I wasted too much time thinking like a human.

GIVE US YOUR FAVORITE PARAGRAPH FROM THE STORY:

Just one? Okay. Here’s one of the first paragraphs I wrote and never had to change it (much). It’s Cassie talking:

I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running, not staying, but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity’s last war, then I am the battlefield.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU AS A STORYTELLER?

The final installment of my Monstrumologist series will be published this fall. It’s called The Final Descent. I have a short-story called “When First We Were Gods” that will appear in Rags & Bones, an anthology edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt.

Most exciting of all, I’m currently working on Book 2 of The 5th Wave!

Picked up “Monstrumologist” based on your promotion and the answers to the interview.
In-freaking incredible! Its rare that one finds such well written work. As i read the opening chapters, a movie played out in my mind, scene after articulatrd scene. I guess some people call this cinematic. I was immersed beyond my eyeballs. Thank you for the recommendation. I had been looking for something good to read for awhile.

My librarian recommended this to me, and, because she’s awesome and has very good taste I read it. (Even though I wasn’t sure immediatley if it was about a tsunami. And even though when I read into I realised it was Sci-Fi. I don’t not like Sci-Fi. I don’t like badly written, cliche Sci-Fi about a grizzled middle age dude fighting desperatley to reunite with his family before they all die. Not really my thing.) But the Fith Wave is completekly different to any other Sci-Fi i’ve ever read. It was amazing. My friends are now taking it in turns to read it, and my librarian hasn’t managed to get her hands back on it yet.

I need book #2 of the 5th wave! I read the 5th wave in one sitting and ignored everyone around me until I was finished reading it. Now, needless to say, I’m obsessed! Can we say Movie Deal or what. Please hurry Mr. Rick Yancey, I need more Cassie, Ben, and Evan! Oh I hope Evan is in book #2! This is my first read of a Rick Yancey story and it was a great one. I absolutely cannot wait for book #2